Ann Romney's determination

Friday, May 13, 2016

Dear Editor,

In 1998 when Ann Romney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis she thought she was at the end of her rope

However, she was determined to deal with her situation in a positive way. "In This Together," published by St. Martin's Press in 2015, is a book she wrote about her dealing with M.S. and other challenges.

M.S. is an auto-immune disorder. prior to developing M.S. Ann had a bout of a virus-type of flu.

(This same thing happened to me before I was diagnosed with Buillain-Barré syndrome in 1993.)

The Winter Olympics in Utah were scheduled to begin in 2002. Mitt was aksed to be the CEO of this event.

In 1999 he and Ann obtained housing in Park City, Utah.

Streets there sloped downhill. Ann couldn't stand up on them. Mitt Romney, "the great problem solver" wondered if it was a bad decision to relocate from Boston to that part of the U.S. In spite of everything Ann fought courageously.

She managed to walk along Main Street in Salt Lake City which is also downhill.

Amazingly, for one-eighth mile, she carried the Olympic torch and banner.

Each day, with the help of friends, she climbed up on Baron, her handsome dressage horse that was trained to do a "horse ballet." She struggled to not fall off him.

Unexpectedly, she developed breast cancer and was given radiation.

Now in 2016, she is working with neuroligical disease specialists Dr. Harold Wermer, Dr. Betsy Nabel and Dr. Dennis Selkoe at the Ann Romney Neurologic Center. It is located next to the Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston.